We couldn’t let the month of Mexican Independence go by without sampling a couple of things Mexican.

New restaurant: MEXI-GO

We started out our day with lunch at Mexi-Go Restaurant in Allen. It has an interesting back story: one of the owners, Jose, had been frequenting an ice cream parlor and found that it was closing its doors but the owners gave him the opportunity of a lifetime and helped him convert it into a Mexican restaurant of his own. After some creative hustling to get customers, the place took off. It was intended as a takeout place (thus the Mexi-GO) but morphed into a sit down restaurant. Barb didn’t go wild over the chips (which she considered a blessing since she usually can down a whole basket) but we enjoyed our food choices very much and will be back.

New activity: MEXICAN ART EXHIBIT at the DMA

Abraham Ángel: Between Wonder and Seduction

This was the second art exhibit we’ve seen that showcased a young, talented artist whose career was cut short by a very early death.  Ángel was one of the leading artists of his generation yet he produced just 24 paintings before his sudden death at the age of 19. From the description at the museum: “one of Mexico’s first known queer artists, he found belonging in the capital’s rich avant-garde artistic scene.” There are many different theories on his death, and in fact we had one as well, based on a picture displayed there.

When he was just 16, Ángel met the painter Adolfo Best Maugard who was teaching a new drawing method. He believed that by learning to combine seven basic design elements – spiral, circle, half circle, s shape, zigzag, wavy line and straight line, anyone could learn to create compelling works of art.  The picture below shows one of his works that came out of this drawing method.

At the end of the exhibit was a room with cards in it that asked people to draw something using the shapes of Maugard’s method. Barb couldn’t resist; it was fun but as you can see she would have been kicked out of Maugard’s studio!